TRENDINSIGHTS

Automotive Sales Analysis

Feb. 2016

2 TRENDS | INSIGHTS

Automotive News Data Center reported that U.S. auto sales reached all-time high in 2015

selling 17.47 million light trucks and vehicles, eclipsing the old mark set in 2000 when 17.35

million were sold. By comparison, in 2009 at the height of the economic recession, only 10.4

million vehicles were sold. (At that time both GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy and

received government bailouts). The 2015 sales represent an increase of 5.7% from the previous

year, it marked the sixth consecutive year of annual increase in light vehicle sales. The last time

the industry experienced six consecutive years of sales growth was in the 1920’s.

U.S. Light Vehicle Sales 1999-2015(in millions)

Source: SME.org & Automotive News

U.S. AUTOMOTIVE SALES SETS A RECORD

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

17.0 17.4 17.2 16.8 16.7 16.9 17.016.6

16.1

13.2

10.4

11.6

12.8

14.515.6

16.517.5

3

Reasons for the Strong Automotive Market: There were several reasons for such a strong

year in sales. The price of gas continues to drop, according to the AAA, averaging only

$2.00 a gallon by yearend nationwide. Another factor was the interest rates hovering

around zero. By comparison, in 2000, the interest rates averaged 6.2%. A stronger

economy, also helped boost sales, with more people working (The Bureau of Labor

Statistics reported that 2.65 million jobs were added in 2015, many of them under the age

of 35), consumers could now afford to buy new cars and many needed an automobile to

commute. Additionally, there are a lot of older cars on the road, according to a survey

from IHS Automotive, the average age of a vehicle on the road in 2015 was a record high

11.5 years and needed to be replaced. (Polk reports the replacement rate for vehicles

increases notably when they reach 13 years). Another reason for the strong year was the

popularity of leasing, according to Edmonds, leases on new cars accounted for 29% of

all U.S. retail sales, up 2% from 2014. In contrast, the leasing figure in 2005 was 16.6%.

To further emphasize the strong automotive market, the Wall Street Journal reported,

Americans, in total, spent approximately $570 billion in new cars in 2015. Additionally,

CNN/Money said in 2015 the balance on car loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

Crossover SUV’s Popular: With the cost of gas dropping, one of the more popular car

type sold in 2015 were SUV’s. By fourth quarter 2015, Kelly Blue reported that small sized

(“crossover”) SUV’s garnered a 14% market share, greater than both small and midsize

sedans. The top selling model was the Honda CR-V with about 900 units sold each day of

the year. The Honda CR-V outsold Honda Civic for the second straight year. Another popular

crossover SUV model was the Nissan Rogue which reported an increase in sales of 44%.

Fuel Efficient Cars Not As Popular: With the cost of gas dropping the sales of the fuel

efficient small cars, hybrids and electric all decreased as consumers saw less of a need for

them. According to the Associated Press, The Toyota Prius hybrid had a fall-off in cars sold

of 11% in 2015 to 185,000 models sold. The Nissan Leaf an electric car had sales decline by

43% in 2015 to 17,000 models sold. The Chevrolet Sonic, a top subcompact car reported a

decrease in sales of 31% compared to the previous year.

TRENDS | INSIGHTS

4 TRENDS | INSIGHTS

Best Selling Vehicles: The ten best-selling car models all sold over 300,000 units in 2015.

For the sixth consecutive year Ford’s F-Series light trucks was the top selling car model.

In 2015 Ford sold 780,354 F Series trucks which, according to USNews.com, comes to

more than one every minute. Ford revamped its F-150 model during the year partially

adding aluminum to cut weight. According to Autodata, the sales of light trucks grew by

13% in 2015 to 9.7 million units. The top three selling vehicles in 2015 were light trucks.

Conversely, the sales of cars dropped by 2% selling 7.7 million vehicles. This marked the

sixth straight year that light trucks have outsold cars.

A Banner Year for Carmakers: According to Automotive News, General Motors, led all

automotive companies in 2015, selling over three million cars and trucks, a 5% increase

of over 2014. Ford Motor, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler all sold over two million cars in

2015. Honda, Nissan and Hyundai-Kia all sold over one million automobiles in 2015. The

fastest growing car seller was Subaru who reported a sales increase of 13.5% when 2015

is compared to the previous year. The three top selling carmakers, General Motors, Ford

Motor and Toyota Motor accounted for nearly 47% of all cars sold in 2015.

Ford F Series

Chevrolet Silverado

Dodge Ram

Toyota Camry

Toyota Corolla

Honda Accord

Honda CR-V

Honda Civic

Nissan Altima

Toyota RAV4

780,354

600,544

451,116

429,355

363,332

355,557

345,647

335,384

333,398

315,412

Top Selling Car Models 2015 (Units)

Source: Automotive News

5TRENDS | INSIGHTS

How 2016 Sales Shape Up: Looking ahead industry analysts forecast continued sales

growth in the market but a slower pace. One reason is the millions of vehicles that are

“coming-off” two or three year leases and entering the used car market. Nonetheless, even

a 3% increase in sales in 2016, roughly half of the growth of 2015, will push sales past the

18 million mark for the first time. Industry analysts project sales to level off in the years

beyond that.

Top Selling Carmakers in the U.S. 2015

Source: Automotive News

2015

3,082,366

2,603,082

2,499,313

2,243,907

1,586,551

1,484,918

1,387,528

582,675

555,084

405,677

380,461

319,183

17,470,659

2014

2,935,008

2,471,315

2,373,771

2,090,639

1,540,872

1,386,895

1,305,952

513,693

552,720

396,691

366,589

305,801

16,522,663

Car Makers

General Motors

Ford Motor

Toyota Motor

Fiat Chrysler

Honda (American)

Nissan North America

Hyundai-Kia

Subaru

VW Group

BMW Group

Daimler AG

Mazda

Total

% Change

+ 5.0%

+ 5.3%

+ 5.3%

+ 7.3%

+ 3.0%

+ 7.1%

+ 6.2%

+ 13.4%

+ 0.5%

+ 2.2%

+ 3.8%

+ 4.4%

+5.7%

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